Related Articles

Managing jealous coworkers at a small business can be tricky because you can't make two people like each other. However, as a supervisor, it is your responsibility to ensure a workplace free of distractions and conflict. It's your job to change employees' behavior when you become aware that coworkers are disrupting the productivity of the unit or department. Your goal is to teach your staff members how to act professionally in the workplace at all times, regardless of how they feel about each other.

Complaints

If you receive complaints from coworkers of the jealous employees or the employees themselves or you notice a conflict, meet individually with the staff members involved. Listen carefully and determine if complaints are legitimate. Make changes to improve the work environment, if possible. It may be as simple as moving desks to different locations in the office or offering to mentor an employee who is jealous of a coworker receiving higher-level assignments. Weed through the unimportant gripes to find the underlying problems to manage the jealousy effectively.

Meeting

After listening to each employee individually, meet with the two together to mediate the most important issues. Ask for a representative from human resources to accompany you if the situation warrants it. If your business is too small or neither employee wants to transfer to a different area, explain that the two may no longer disrupt the workplace with jealous behavior. Tell them that neither one may talk about the other to any of the staff members. Explain how they can diffuse situations of jealously before they fester. For example, if one employee feels that the other is taking more sales calls from the receptionist, they can work out a system to ensure equity when both are in the office.

Discipline

During your meeting, explain that a recurrence of jealous conflict that disrupts the workplace may result in discipline, including termination. If you discover actions that violated company policy, determine the level of discipline necessary to end the behavior. Privately administer individual performance appraisals that detail the jealous behavior and your expectations of how the employee must act in the future. Follow up with another review in a short period of time, such as 30 days, to document any improvement or the need for further discipline.

Preventive Actions

Institute a policy on behavior expected in the workplace, if you don't have one already. Include a complaint procedure and mediation options to resolve workplace jealousy before it becomes a disruption and slows productivity. Encourage other employees to confidentially discuss witnessed behavior with you, so you can step in when needed. Require your staff to attend a training session on how to handle workplace conflict. Meet privately with each staff member to follow up and determine if the environment has improved.

About the Author

Carol Deeb has been an editor and writer since 1988. Her work has appeared in magazines, newspapers and online publications, as well as a book on education. Deeb is a real-estate investor and business owner with professional experience in human resources. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from San Diego State University.